Employers love the high percentage of college grads in Colorado
By: Mark Samuelson
Among the factors that weigh most heavily on people when choosing where to live, few rank higher than quality of education.
It’s so vital that Realtors say out-of-state prospects often have done extensive Google homework on districts and individual schools before arriving to look at property.
Although Colorado’s spending-per-student and teachers’ salaries are regular targets of criticism, the state is getting better grades for schools now from a diverse range of sources – particularly for the consumer value that an education offers here.
The latest “Leaders and Laggards” report on K-through-12 education issued by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation gives Colorado an “A” grade in academic achievement, international competitiveness, parental options and return on investment; and “Bs” in low-income/minority achievement and postsecondary workforce readiness.
WalletHub, an online source ranking consumer decisions, ranks Colorado sixth best in the nation in quality of education and future earning potential, based on an algorithm of 12 metrics ranging from pupil/teacher ratios and math and reading scores, to dropout rates and incidents of bullying.
Although Colorado is two time zones west of the storied universities along the Atlantic coast that have often correlated with acclaimed state schools systems, Colorado’s institutions of higher learning punch above their weight in recognition and performance.
Employers like the bounty of bachelor’s degrees they find in Colorado – the nation’s second highest number of college graduates as a percentage of population. The Denver-Aurora-Broomfield metro area, according to the Washington Post, has had the nation’s very best success in attracting new grads to relocate here – up more than 21 percent in the five years 2007 to 2012.
Educators here point to experiential learning opportunities offered by Colorado colleges and universities as better preparing graduates for the challenges they’ll find in the outside world.
“Our faculty addresses research questions with enormous public importance, oftentimes with student collaborators, preparing them to become the academic and civic leaders of tomorrow,” says Anne DePrince, Director of the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning at the University of Denver.
DU posts the nation’s very highest percentage of students who study abroad at some point in their academic careers. At a time when unemployment is a particular concern for the youngest working ages, some 88 percent of DU graduates have at least one job offer waiting for them at graduation, a remarkable statistic.
Colorado has 876,999 public school students, served by just over 50,000 teachers, who earn just under $50,000 yearly on average. Student dropout rates are moving in the right direction, currently just 2.4 percent – falling over recent years, down 1.4 percent between 2008 and 2014.
Despite what seems to be a growing reputation for a public school education here, significant numbers of families in Colorado are choosing to home-school students. They now number more than 8,000 and their numbers are rising.
